They Meet Again
by iCantimations
Summary: Shizuku's dream of becoming a writer has been completely crushed. Shizuku has lost about everything she had, her job, her money, her family...and Seiji Amasawa. Shizuku knew she still loved him, but she has no hopes of finding him, with no contact information to him, for every single letter she sent had been returned to sender. Can this dying thread of love still be revived?
1. Prologue

They Meet Again

Prologue

By LittleMissCrash

I haven't seen him in years.

I haven't heard from him in years.

He was the one who had told me it wouldn't work out.

I said fine. But why do I still care about him to this day? After he'd gone to Cremona to study the creation of a violin, he changed. I sensed it before he even knew. He became self-absorbed and was a jerk in his letters. Why had I agreed to him when he said it wouldn't work out? Now I know I still love him, but it's far too late.

He broke his promise.

His promised we would be long married by this age. But here I am now, in my small shabby apartment, because all I have dreamed of had not worked out. My dream to be an author died when a supposedly famous movie maker sued me for copyright reasons. I hadn't copied anything in any of his movies, but he insisted that the plot was exactly the same. He won that case. It cost me all of my funds. Now I sit in my lonely and gray apartment, waiting for the day that he would come back. To tell me everything's all right and live with me and I can finally repay him with my lifelong debt to him. He was the one who told me I could become anything I wanted to be if I tried. Even if it was unintentional.

I became a writer and had two successful books before that film director destroyed everything. How will I fly to Cremona now? How will I ever see him again?

I suppose it is my fault that I had agreed to break up, but regretted it the moment I said the words into the phone.

I hadn't realized how much I loved him until he was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

They Meet Again

Chapter 1

By LittleMissCrash

Two years ago…

Here I was signing the covers of books again. I am so happy to be sitting here and meet my fans. I just wish that he was here to see my success. I wanted Seiji to see what he has done for me and thank him a billion times, but no matter how hard I wanted my wishes to become reality, I knew that some things were never meant to be mine. At the time I thought we were forever. He thought we were forever. But some things just don't last. His promise once to marry me has long disappeared from my list of things to do, but still haven't left the "I hope" list.

I sigh and pick up my pen to sign a copy of "The Cat Returns," about a teenage girl who learns to believe in herself. The Baron was in it as well. The book I had signed belonged to a little girl who was no older than nine and I wondered how she first heard of my book. I put on my most convincing smile and try to show that I wasn't in distress. I wasn't really in distress, I am very happy to see people all over the streets of Japan carrying a copy of my book. I hadn't known that the mess I created twelve years ago would become such a success. Mr. Nishi, who was long gone, had been the first to read it and he helped me clean up my mess, which I was grateful for. I can never stop owing his family, can't I?

The signing event was finally over and I don't remember much, just many blurred faces and me taking pictures with them. I remembered I had chatted with them for a while. I checked the mail before I entered my home. I always did, in case he sent me something. For the first time in a while, there was a letter in a crisply sealed envelope. It was addressed to Ms. Tsukishima, but it was not from Seiji, it was from the court. I tore it open out of anger for getting me excited.

The letter stated:

 _Ms. Shizuku Tsukishima,_

 _You have been called to court on behalf of Mr. Taro Sumiga. You must arrive at 9:00 AM tomorrow, and be dressed for a formal occasion._

The letter said other things but I didn't read any of it. What had I done wrong?


	3. Chapter 2

They Meet Again

Chapter 2

By LittleMissCrash

Present day…

By now, with me twenty-eight and bankrupt except for a small amount of money I make at a local restaurant, I can never find a plane to reach Seiji no matter how much I desire. He probably has fallen in love with somebody else already. That's probably why he called off the relationship. They're probably married by now.

I got up from my hard cot that shook with every movement and went into my bare kitchen and grabbed a frozen dinner from out of the freezer. I heated it up and turned on the radio. Nothing but the news was on, so I might as well listen. I hated the news. I hated reading or listening to nonfiction, but it's good to catch up on current events once in a while. News floated by and I kept eating my dinner. I didn't catch any of the news. I finally decided it was pointless and reached over to click off the radio.

Then I heard it.

"Amasawa Violins, best violins since Stradivarius! Call the number now to be the lucky first ten people to get a violin for half the price!" squealed the radio.

But I was too late. I missed the number. I missed my chance to contact Seiji. Honestly I don't even know where he is. He probably already moved to some place like America and is living his life with children and a wife that he truly loves and is not me.

How I miss his little grin at me when he teases me. How I miss him dragging me to the lookout to watch the sun rise. How I miss being told he loved me. It's been so long since any of this had happened.

He called things off when we were twenty when he was in Cremona studying. Long distance really never was meant to last. I haven't heard his voice in eight years and in those eight years I've released two books, both were a bestseller and I hoped I had been in the news like he is now.

I slump in my chair, desperate for the ad to play again, so I waited. I waited until it was midnight, but never again did the ad play.

The next day I went out to buy some groceries and since it was the weekend, I went to the library to borrow some books. The library was a familiar place, reminding me of bittersweet memories. My dad used to work here, but he's long gone. So are my sister and mother. My whole family died five years ago in a family car trip. I wasn't there because I was on a book tour, but when I heard the news I left the signing immediately without saying anything and hurried to the hospital. I felt so helpless as I stared emptily at their bodies. I had my family before that, so this was the first time I felt truly abandoned.

He wasn't there for me then, either.


	4. Chapter 3

They Meet Again

Chapter 3

By LittleMissCrash

Five years ago…

I always loved my book signing events and I was just glad to see people who are excited to read like I am. A little boy came up to me and said,

"Are you the real Shizuku Tsukishima? Some girls at my school say they are, so I'm not sure if you are real or fake." I thought that was adorable. This little boy looked about seven years of age and his wide eyes were filled with confusion. I looked right into his eyes, like my sister had always said.

"These people are really glad to see you, so you should be eager to see them too. Express your feelings toward them!" were the exact words of my wise older sister who is due in three months. Now my parents are on a road trip with her to spend a little time with her before a child entered the picture. I was invited too, but I had this signing event to go to, so I had to cancel. I really wanted to see my sister though.

"I sure hope I'm the real Shizuku Tsukishima! If I'm not then there would be a bit of a problem for me at this event!" I say to him.

"You are? Yes! I was looking forward to this all my life!" I smiled at what the little boy said. "How am I going to tell those bigger girls that they are fake Shizuku Tsukishima's? They will probably beat me up!" the little boy said frantically.

"Then you tell them that you saw the real Shizuku Tsukishima today and that you became best friends with her." I said and I took out my hand, "I'm Shizuku, I love to read and write and my child aspiration was to become an author. What's your name?" The little boy gladly took my hand and shook it eagerly.

"I'm Yuto Tanaka and I want become a famous actor when I grow up, except that the older girls said that I wasn't handsome enough to be an actor." The boy said then stared at his hand and said, "I am never washing this hand again!" I laughed, but then I became serious again.

"Yuto, tell those girls that you can be anything you want to be, no matter what they say." I nodded at him and Yuto trotted off happily. Then one of the security people came in and told me they had a message to deliver to me.

"Ms. Tsukishima, you must hurry to the Kato Hospital immediately, it's your family. They were involved in a traffic accident." As soon as he finished, I forgot all that has happened afterwards, because one moment I sat at my chair frozen, while a line of people wait for their books to be signed, and the next I was staring at my family's bodies. They had passed so fast, as soon as the truck was on the car, they were done for.

My sister's child too. She had been so excited to become a mother at last, preparing the rooms, buying formulas and toys and baby beds, but all that waiting has lead up to nothing. In some ways this brought me back to mine and Seiji's relationship. We waited for each other for years, but it all broke down in the end.

One thing about that relationship is that it was dead, but I still loved him.


	5. Chapter 4

They Meet Again

Chapter 4

By LittleMissCrash

Present day…

My thin jacket couldn't hold up the stabbing wind that blew into me. I couldn't take this burden. What had I ever done to deserve this torture? When will this world stop punishing me for nothing? They took away my career path, my family, and the love of my life. In hatred of all the people who have left me in the dust of their tracks when I lost my court case, even that nine-year-old who smiled as I marked her book cover with pen marks, I screamed at the front step of my apartment. I was so frustrated.

"Keep it down, will you?!" The neighbors yelled at me. I could feel the tears slowly trickling down my cheek. It wasn't a river, since I was not quite a child throwing a tantrum yet. The tears felt sad, like my own tears were disappointed in me.

I'm so done with this world. Just let me die now instead of watching the slow process of myself dying away. Hurrying inside my austere room, I hurried to find a rope to end all of this mess of a life fast. I swiftly made a noose and looked around the room to hang it off the ceiling. I found an old chandelier hook, without the chandelier of course, and tied the thick rope around the hook. It kept slipping as hot tears flooded my vision. Finally I gave up. This world won't even allow me to kill myself. I fell to the ground in defeat and laid there for a long time. I guess I fell asleep at some point. I probably had a fever from the wind earlier anyway. I'll die anyway, so it's going to be okay.

I just wished I was able to say a last good-bye to Seiji. Then I remembered I already did that when I agreed to break up with him. 

My eyes fly open. Where am I? I should be a freaking stone dead body. Why is everything so bright? I try to clear up my vision by rubbing my eyes, but something is restraining my arm. Am I in a hospital? I can't afford for my stay here! What happened? I was dying. I was leaving this terrible life for someplace new. Why am I still here? I tilt my head to look around and I saw a nurse that was working on something on the IV machine. She catches my look and her whole face brightens up as though my awakening made her whole freaking day.

"It's nice to see you up Ms. Shizuku! I better inform the doctor." She says, smiling. I frown at her.

"Why am I alive?" I snapped. She seemed pretty surprised at my tone. Then she smiles again.

"Because you were saved by the doctors, honey. You probably want to know the full story don't you?" She said cheerfully. I eyed her skeptically, and nod once. She continues on. "Well, apparently, your neighbor found you unconscious in your apartment after not coming out for about a week. You were still breathing, but your pulse was very weak. If you were left there for another day, you would have been dead. It was a close call but—"

"She's awake?!" A voice burst in, cutting off the nurse. I knew that voice so well. I had marveled over it every time he spoke to me that time so long ago.

I turned around and saw Seiji sprinting towards me, without any sign of stopping and crashed into my hospital bed.


	6. Chapter 5

They Meet Again

Chapter 5

By LittleMissCrash

8 years ago…

"Shizuku, I have something to ask you." That was the first thing I heard when I picked up the phone.

"Seiji, is that you?" I ask, even though it was pointless, because of course I knew it was him. I could hear the enthusiasm in my voice as I spoke and I was disappointed in myself. Why should I be excited for this bastard who always pushes me off when I try to get to know what's going on with him? The first year he was away from me, we had talked to each other every day on the phone. I knew then that he loved me. But this second year away from his home has changed him. Our conversations were aloof and I try so hard to get him to talk to me more and let me in on what he was going through, but he would ignore my calls for weeks sometimes. We were future fiancés for heaven's sake! Shouldn't he at least tell me when he won't be able to receive my calls? We haven't contacted each other in a few weeks. I tried to call him a few times, but he still won't pick up. Sometimes I'm just so done with him.

"Yeah, it's me." There was something in his voice I couldn't pick up. Was he stressed? Was he excited? Ugh, sometimes he was just so good at concealing his emotions through the phone.

"Hey! You finally decided to call me, huh?" I said, even though I tried to mask my worry and anger underneath a joke, my bitterness still seems to leak out.

"Right, sorry about that. It's just that I have my finals these weeks, so I had to study." He sounded apologetic, but not quite.

"You should have at least warned me." I mumble, in hopes that he heard me, but at the same time didn't.

"Sorry, I can't stay for long, but I need to ask you something." He sounded even less sincere this time.

"Right, go for it." I said.

"I think that we should split for a while. I mean long distance really doesn't work well for me and my work. These last few weeks I have become more and more stressed out. I don't think this is healthy for you either. We should just go our separate ways for a while, or at least until I finish my studies…Shizuku? Are you still there?"

I take the phone from my ear and sit there gaping at the wall. Then I realize he was still waiting for a reply and quickly snap back to reality, although my dazed mind still couldn't make clear of what he was trying to say.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Just give me a second. You ambushed me with this." I tried not to sound like I was about to cry and succeeded. I thought about the facts. He wasn't taking good care of me either and it isn't going to do me any good if I sit there and wait for someone who didn't care enough to visit my sad heart to return home. Maybe this was all an infatuation. This relationship that we shared had begun in the beginning of high school, which was six years ago. What if I never really loved him, but because I was too desperate for a boyfriend and accepted that strange person who borrowed every single book that I had borrowed? What if I only ever liked him was because he liked me? Maybe saying yes to his request would help me think straight as well. I focused on the phone and listened to his steady breathing. I waited just a few moments longer.

"Okay then. Maybe we shouldn't call each other either. At least until you finish school. Then it would be more dramatic when you ask me back."

"That's fine with me. Jeez, you and your drama. See you later, I really need to go." Then he hung up.


	7. Chapter 7

They Meet Again

Chapter 6

By iCantimations

Present day…

I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet since he accidentally disconnected some medicine that I was relying on before my full recovery and afterward was taken out to the hall, or at least that's what the nurse who was overly happy said. Taken to how he bolted inside, I feel as though security dragged him out after they knocked him out or something. But why? He never called me back to get back together. I remember the devastation when he never spoke to me again. Why had he crashed into the room like he was running from a fire?

"That guy that just ran in wants to visit, do you want him to? I mean he did make you unconscious." The nurse asked me uncertainly because she obviously doesn't want to set me up in a room again. I was uncertain. How could I let this new stranger Seiji back into my life after what he had put me through eight years ago? Would I even know him when I see him? Yes, because I recognized his voice when he barged into the room. The question is why. Why had he flown all the way from where he worked to Japan to see if I was alive?

He never called me after he finished school. Does that mean he found someone new? Is he still with that person? I hated that these questions continued to haunt me even though he was not part of my life anymore. He broke the promise we made so many years ago and I am still hurting over that. Am I strong enough to face the hurt head on right at this moment? Yes.

"Please call him in, thank you." My voice trembled as I managed to not start crying right then. Any emotions that come after this moment is my fault since I am the one who put myself in this vulnerable position. I had some intense mental preparation coming as I heard the door creak.

Looking at him carefully for the first time in 10 years, I see that his hair was still wild but tidy at the same time. His eyes were bloodshot as though he had stayed up for many nights. His face didn't seem as immature as before, with small lines developing around his mouth. He had a coffee stain on his shirt, which was wrinkled.

"Hey." I said my voice croaky from disuse. Seiji looked nervous as well as he made his way towards me. He looked as though he was going to cry.

"Shizuku," he began, but then stopped. I didn't know what to say either. There was a long awkward pause until he spoke again. "I'm sorry." It was so quiet, almost a whisper. "I'm sorry I never called you again. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for your trial. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you lost your family. I'm sorry I left you in such a terrible state while I was living selfishly on the other side of the world." At this point tears were streaming down both of our faces. I kept my mouth shut, scared what would come out of it if I opened it. We stared into each other's eyes in silence for a long time. "I'm sorry I broke our promise." Doesn't he know that if we were to get back together after this incident that all the bad things that happened to me would keep haunting the relationship no matter how far I tried to run from them? His stare broke when he turned around towards the door. He must have known what I was thinking.

"Please don't leave again." My croaky voice said. He stopped and looked back at me his face till twisted with regret, but his eyes shined a glimmer of hope. Hope that I could forgive him.

Thank you for reading "They Meet Again."


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